The Giants played extremely well this offseason. At first I was rooting for them because they weren't the Tigers. Then I started rooting for them because I actually like the team and a lot of their players.

I'm happy to see Detroit lose because they didn't belong there in the first place. They muddled through the regular season and got to the playoffs mainly because the White Sox didn't have enough to get to the finish line. 88 wins is not impressive.

I am not one for this expanded playoffs. Teams should get to the post-season because of a great regular season. I don't like the view that a team can barely make it to the playoffs and then "get hot."

__________________It breaks your heart. It is designed to break your heart. The game begins in the spring, when everything else begins again, and it blossoms in the summer, filling the afternoons and evenings, and then as soon as the chill rains come, it stops and leaves you to face the fall alone. - A. Bartlett Giamatti

I'm told that the Tigers are going to sign Josh Hamilton this offseason. Put him into the Tigers lineup with Victor Martinez makes the Tigers much stronger next year.

Who told you that?

I am guessing the Tigers won't re-sign Delmon Young with Martinez coming back. The Tigers seem to like Garcia and Dirks a lot. I also am guessing they would want to re-sign Sanchez and would be surprised if the Tigers needed to offer Hamilton the inflated contract he and his agent will demand.

I'm not sure it's significant to anything that the 3rd best team in the NL beat the 7th best team in the AL in a 7-game series with the AL team coming off nearly a week break.

When the White Sox had five off days before the 2005 World Series, they didn't complain about the layoff. They also swept the Astros. It did, however, take five games for the Whtie Sox to beat the Angels after three off days heading into the ALCS. I actually read a couple of national columns in 2005 that diminished the 11-1 accomplishment of the White Sox because they had the benefit of long layoffs.

I thought while watching division and league championship series in both leagues that the National League teams were clearly better than the American League teams. Having seen the Yankees play against the Tigers, I believe the third-best team in the National League would have beaten the best team in the American League this year. I also believe the foruth-best team in the National League would have beaten the best team in the American League if they hadn't lost the NLCS after being up three games to one.